News Archives - Lyme Disease Association

News

Working Group to Discuss Lyme Patient Issues/Goodbye Dr. Spector/Claims Show 94% Lyme/Lyme & AFib/Rickettsia in NJ Ticks

July 1, 2020

Lyme cases vs. all other tick borne diseases

LDA Campaign: Patient Access to Care. Our government denies persistent (chronic) Lyme and refuses to acknowledge and help those patients. LDA requested the public submit comments about the existence and importance of persistent (chronic) Lyme. How it affects their life, family, job, school, and doctors. We are pleased to report this campaign was successful and thanks to the many who took action and responded.

94% Lyme, 6% Other Tick-Borne Disease Says Fair Health Claims Analysis

June 30, 2020

Fair Health, is “an independent non-profit that collects data for and manages the nation’s largest database of privately billed health insurance claims,” including Medicare Parts A & B. In December 2019, it published a white paper “Trends and Patterns in Lyme Disease, An Analysis of Private Claims Data. The Paper analyzed 30 billion privately billed […]

Rickettsia Found in New Jersey Ticks

June 30, 2020

The picture in New Jersey of spotted fever group rickettsiosis (SFGR), which includes Rocky Mountain Spotted fever (RMSF), is complex. In this latest study from the Am. Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (James Occi, Rutgers University, et al, ), the researchers tested American dog ticks and lone star ticks in NJ to determine which […]

Dr. Neil Spector, Inspiration Extraordinaire, Passed Away

June 17, 2020

Neil Spector, MD at 2018 LDA/Columbia Lyme Conference

From LDA President Pat Smith’s Blog: It is with great sadness that we in the Lyme community say goodbye to someone whose life was dedicated to helping others through his work as an oncologist and a researcher, Dr. Neil Spector. Dr. Spector devoted his life to saving the lives of others, first through his work on therapies for cancer patients and from his personal experience with Lyme disease.

Elizabeth L. Maloney, MD Publishes on Reducing the Burden of Lyme Disease

May 28, 2020

Elizabeth L. Maloney, MD, President of the Partnership for Tick-Borne Diseases Education and Family Medicine Physician in Wyoming, MN published a paper titled “Reducing the Burden of Lyme Disease” in Minnesota Family Physician. It includes discussion of tick bite management, early treatment, and shared decision-making.

LDA President Talks Lyme/TBD on PA Radio

May 27, 2020

The LDA President, Pat Smith, was interviewed about Lyme & other TBD on Pennsylvania’s Forever Johnstown Media radio. Included in the 25-minute interview were Lyme case numbers, the Lyme controversy, spread, ticks, other tick-borne diseases, and prevention.

Johns Hopkins’ Aucott Makes Case for Chronic Lyme Disease

May 22, 2020

John Aucott, Director, Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center and Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, published a piece in The Conversation providing his insight on the highly controversial topic of chronic Lyme disease.

Study on Deer Tick Questing for a Host

May 13, 2020

Daniel Cameron, MD, reported in his Lyme Science blog on a study that uncovers new information about deer tick questing. The study, from the SUNY Broome Community College’s Tracy R. Curtis, et al., was published in Medical and Veterinary Entomology and looked at how adult blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) move on public trails with “increasing levels of terrain complexity with a potential host nearby.”

Lyme Disease Vaccine Collaboration Announced

May 9, 2020

Science laboratory research and development concept. microscope with test tubes

Specialty vaccine company Valneva SE and Pfizer Inc. announced a collaboration to develop VLA15, Valneva’s Lyme disease vaccine candidate, which is currently in Phase 2 clinical studies.

Lyme Awareness/Secrets of Lyme/LDA 30 Yrs/Working Group/Lyme & COVID-19 Study/ILADS Database

May 1, 2020

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, a time to remind ourselves that Lyme is a disease that has been neglected, minimized, and ridiculed over decades and still continues to be. We all need to redouble our efforts to get an accurate test and to get patients properly treated, and treated with dignity.